, we have to talk about that. what do families need to be aware of immediately with the fiscal cliff? we mentioned our paychecks in the intro. >> well, if we go sailing over that fiscal cliff and nothing is done, in the next few weeks you could see a smaller paycheck, depending upon how your withholdings are handled. there are so many things you need to look at as far as your income taxes. the lowest income category could be hit the hardest. that 10% tax bracket goes away all together. so the poor insist of the poor could really take a hit. so it's really time to sit down, look at your situation, start planning, don't panic. and hopefully some sort of deal will be worked out in the final hours. >> heather: plan to have a little less money in your pocketbook. what other factors do we need to consider beyond taxes in our paychecks? >> we've talked a lot about long-term capital gains. that's something you need to be aware of. any sort of gains on dividends is something you'll need to look at in 2013. we've also talked about the alternative minimum tax. you've been hearing about the amt. this is something that came into play in 1969 to make sure that the rich, if you will, played their fair share of

plan b. to a vote. that would have avoided the fiscal cliff. but he wasn't able to bring that to a vote. that made investors lose confidence, and since then, nothing really concrete has happened with the fiscal cliff to convince investors that a deal can get done. so at this point, the market doesn't really want a band-aid or so-called framework deal. in fact, one trader told me that it would almost be better if we went over the cliff, because that would give the markets some certainty. they would at least know what to expect. that is, of course, instead of a band-aid measure, because the worry there is that it would just kick the can down the road. now, this is usually the time of year when we see what's known as a santa claus rally, when investors push up stocks an average of 1.5% in the last few days of the year. and that kind of rally has come to wall street over the past four years. the santa claus rally still has some time to make it, though, with the market wrapping up 2012 on monday with a full day of trading. now, the major averages are, though, on track to make some solid gains for the year. you look at 2012 heading into monday for the dow industrials, they're up 6%. the nasdaq is up more than 13%. and the s&p 500, that's up 1 1% for the

, down-the- road bill to make another fiscal cliff to deal with this fiscal cliff. >> reporter: with expectation low, lawmakers are talk about how to retroactively fix any damage done by going over the cliff with congress. nicole collins, fox news. >>> developing tonight, a strike that could have shut down ports up and down the east coast is averted for now. the long shoreman's union along the east coast and gulf of mexico will extend the current contract for 30 days. that extension prevents a possible strike that could have crippled operations at port and including the port of baltimore. in a statement today, the maryland governor martin o'malley wrote, quote, the port of baltimore continues to be a major part of the state economic strait generating and supporting thousands of jobs. during the extended period, we hope long-term resolutions can be reached for the hardworking families who depend on jobs and commerce linked to the port of baltimore. >>> to the state of the skins. it's the hottest ticket in town. the redskins play host sunday night as the two teams battle it out for the nfc east title and a place in the play-offs. our coverage begins at 5 with fox 5s lin

cliff. the deadline is less than 48 hours away and as to whether they can get it done, the president says he's hopeful. >> i'm modestly ll lly optimis an agreement can be achieved. let's make sure that middle class families and the world economy aren't adversely impacted because people can't do their jobs. >> both houses of congress are meeting in a rare sunday session. the house an hour later at 2:00. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin now with the look at a chance for a deal and what's on the table. >> alison, here in washington, there is still hope a deal can be cut in time to avert the fiscal cliff. on saturday, the president was at work here in the white house but all eyes were on the senate where negotiators were trading deal points and revenue figures to try to reach an agreement all sides can stomach. the baseline for the president, any bipartisan bill would have to extend unemployment insurance that would affect some 2 million americans and increase taxes for the highest income earners. but negotiators can still work out exactly where that tax increase would

stocking up on ice melt and shovels. >>> as the clock ticks down towards the fiscal cliff, president obama says he is hopeful to get a deal done soon. the president held talks today with congressional leaders at the white house this afternoon and afterwards said the meeting was constructive. fox's nicole collins has the details tonight. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner back in washington immediately heading to the white house for a late afternoon fiscal cliff meeting which brought the president and congressional leaders together for the first time since november, but it's unclear if it brought country any closer to avoiding the fiscal cliff. >> i'm modestly optimistic that an agreement can be achieved. nobody is going to get 100% of what they want, but let's make sure that middle class families and the american economy and, in fact, the world economy aren't adversely impacted because people can't do their jobs. >> reporter: the president called the meeting as lawmakers pointed fingers in this high stakes game of chicken. >> it's republicans who are holding hostage the middle class in america so that the wealthy don't have to

come together as a way of encouraging politicians to come together and get this fiscal cliff cliff thing done. no word yet on when people get extra lattes, where they can write get your lazy ass off vacation. >> willis likes that a lot more. >> i womdzer if there's enough room. >> if you're looking for love, you better have a good credit score. take a look at this. ♪ >> okay, yeah. we're not going to say we're going after those guys, but it's the credit score guys. "the new york times" is reporting that credit scores is huge and that could be at the top of the list. they interviewed people across the u.s., and a newspaper discovered a low credit score is a deal breaker in search of love. so if you don't have your act together, take care of that and maybe you'll find love. >> can you imagine, hi, how are you? what is your credit score? >> 420. no, mine is a lot higher. >> we want to show you this next footage. anyone who has ever had their parking lot stolen is going to love this. this is in russia. we don't know why this is being towed. i've got to get me one of these, because i would just love

done before we fall off the fiscal cliff. and he demanded congress take action now before it's too late. the president spoke in the white house briefing room just about an hour ago now. he was visibly tense. frustration in his voice. >> america wonders why it is in this town for some reason you can't get stuff done in an organized timetable. why everything always has to wait until the last minute. well, we are now at the last minute. and the american people are not going to have any patience for a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. >> harris: if congress cannot work out a deal, tax hikes, spending cuts will take effect on tuesday of next week. president obama says he is willing to give congress a little time to come up with a compromise but his patience is limited well as is the rest of the country's. ed henry with the news live at the white house. ed, first, a dramatic meeting earlier today at the white house. and then this ultimatum from the president. >> that's right, harris. it was a dramatic exchange. what i'm told by a senior white house official is that the pre

. >> susie: good evening everyone. i'm susie gharib. fiscal cliff talks at the white house end with no deal, but president obama says he's still hopeful and says "we've got to get this done." gold prices pulled back today on worries about the fiscal cliff, will the metal shine in 2013? then cuba, tonight's "market monitor" sees big opportunity on the tiny island when the embargo's lifted. thomas herzfeld, of thomas herzfled advisors joins us. that and more tonight on "n.b.r."! president obama says he's "modestly optimistic" a fiscal deal can be reached in time. he said he's instructed senator harry reid and senator mitch mcconnell to come up with a plan that can pass in congress. his brief comments a short while ago came after a it

fiscal cliff. >> so far, at least, congress has not been able to get this stuff done. not because democrats in congress don't want to go ahead and cocooperate, i think it's bn hard for speaker boehner and leader mcconnell to accept the fact taxes on wealthiest americans should go up. we have put forward not only a sensible deal, but one that has the support of the majority of the american people, including close to half of republicans. >> let's get to the strategy talk. a pleasure to welcome these two gentlemen. joe sestak and former republican congressman and chairman tom davis, thank you both for being here. >> i was talking to you all during the commercial break. you said if it was up to you two, what would you do. what would your solution be right now? not the deal, the politics of a deal. >> we have to set politics aside. both parties need to look in the mirror and say what do we do for the good of america? set aside the money that is going to be taken out if we don't act. that means the gdp will grow 0% next year if we don't do anything. they have to cut it down to $200 or l

obama will be leaving highway high early. he will be heading back to the fiscal cliff gridlock in d.c. house speaker john boehner has not called members back to the house in d.c. yet. just days ago he looked to avoid a fiscal cliff. will a deal get done? a newspaper under heavy criticism now for publishing the names of local gun permit legal local gun permit holders online. details on that are next on n "news nation." e reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you'

, same to you, melissa. >> for more on the fiscal cliff negotiations i am joined now by democratic strategist richard goodstein and republican strategist terry holt. thank you both for being here. >> sure. >> hi, melissa. >> terry, let's start with you. what do you think is going on behind closed doors right now on capitol hill? >> i think i'm still talking about the "meet the press" interview by the president this morning. you know, the american people elected president obama to lead, but he spent most of the morning today playing the blame game, and i say let's get the blame game over with and start talking about solutions for the american people because, you know, every -- every dollar you take, you can take every dollar from every rich person in america and still not balance this nation's budget. until we start talking about real spending cuts and structural reform to the entitlement programs, we're going to go broke. we'll go the way of greece, and the president hasn't moved off that. he's still playing politics with these issues, and frankly i think most of us now don't care

. the house already passed legislation to avoid the entire fiscal cliff. senate democrats have not. the house will be in session on sunday. harris? >> molly henneberg with the latest outside the white house. thank you, molly. >> for now, rebuilding after disaster. >> when a tornado took out their church members of this community went to work and found inspiration in the wreckage. >> in the midst of the worse there is good things to come out. >> fixing a building while feeding the soul. that is coming up. >> harris: 200 tornadoes tore through the southern united states in a single day last year, killing more than 300 people. one of those twisters chewed up the town of tuscaloosa, alabama. 65 people died that day. it was among the deadliest single tornado outbreaks in u.s. history and turned much of that area including a church there to rubble. now, more than a year later that community is just starting to rebuild. elizabeth prann is live for us. what do the church members have to do to go through the process? >> had to get reimbursements from fema and from the insurance companies bu

around this fiscal cliff, and at this point it's not about coming up with a grand bargain. they're just trying to get something done and fast. president obama back in washington, but can he lead both parties to a compromise fiscal cliff work-around? republicans say democrats have been dragging their feet for months and they won't be pressured into what they considered a bad deal that doesn't help balance the nation's books. >> the president calls congressional leaders to the white house, it's political theater or they have a deal. my bet is it's theater. >> reporter: speaker john boehner hasn't been able to get them to budge on a deal to raise taxes and the name calling is getting ugly. >> the american people i don't think understand the house of representatives is operating without the house of representatives. it's being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker, not allowing the vast majority of the house of representatives to get what they want. >> reporter: and it's true the senate controlled by democrats is working this week, but they're not working on the fiscal cliff. and the house won't even be back to work

from the hospital. >>> last chance. the nation now just hours from going over the fiscal cliff after lawmakers fail to reach a deal over the weekend. could a last-minute push from vice president joe biden get something done before your taxes go up? >>> and oh, baby. kanye wecakanye west surprises y announcing his girlfriend, kim kardashian, is pregnant with their first child. how her family is reacting to the news "today," monday, december 31st, 2012. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on a very busy monday morning. i'm willie geist. >> and i'm erica hill. matt and savannah have the morning off. >>> we'll have the latest on secretary of state clinton's condition in a live report straight ahead. it is the last day of 2012. >> you and i are both in the same situation with young children. >>> people filing into times square in new york city. it is the world's biggest party. of course, security will be extremely tight. we'll check in on celebrations there and around the world. >> then we'll catch up with three women that had us talking in 2012, including a mom that sparked debate over this picture. and an

sure hope that they are getting something done, the fiscal cliff meeting at the white house right now. what were the mechanics of rushing the deal through congress and getting it passed into law? what would that look like in four days? lisa desjardins joins us now. what will it look like? >> well, there is a couple of possibilities, don. one is that they take sort of the remnants of one of the bills that passed the house or the senate and they just change it. they add whatever is in this deal to it. they have a whole bunch of vehicles that are possible for that. one sticking point, because this deal would most likely deal with taxes, there is a rule in the constitution that is has been interpreted by most every side to determine it has to begin in the house, revenue measures begin in the house. they need a bill that starts in the house, okay, they have a lot to do that. then the trick is making sure they have the votes. i think if we see anything come out of tonight's meeting, anything substantial, that's what is going to happen this next day and a half. leaders on both sides have

fixes the problem, not just postpones the fiscal cliff for another six months or another year. that doesn't resolve it. so our push us, why we tried to get this done in may of this year, rather than in december, is to say, we need to fix the problem. let's focus on that. jon: james langford is a republican from oklahoma. now our viewers no why you're on the republican policy committee today. good of you to join us. >> thank you. harris: we know this from the headlines. the cdc has had a rather busy year keeping us all safe. we'll look infections, diseases viral outbreaks, remember west nile this summer? put the centers for disease control in the news over the past year. >>> if your mom told you not to climb trees she needed to say it louder to this buy. look at this. an update on the man who had to be rescued after guesting three store i ares up a massive palm tree. how do you even climb a palm tree? jon: very carefully. harris: very carefully. great. aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any tim

deal with unfinished fiscal cliff business. with just five days until the combination of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could send the economy back into recession, mr. obama wants congress to take the lead in getting the job done. the senate convenes later today and senate majority leader harry reid told members to be prepared to address fiscal cliff issues through the weekend. reid is working on his own plan to get lawmakers to come together before the end of the year deadline. that plan would likely include letting the bush tax cuts expire for households making more than $250,000 a year and short term spending cuts instead of the massive long-term cuts that would happen if there is no deal. after our wednesday conference call, house republican leaders issued a statement saying they were waiting for the democratic controlled senate. the house will take this action on whatever the senate can pass they said but the senate first must act. in a sign of public frustration over the lack of a deal the coffee giant starbucks is asking employees in approximately 120 washington area cafes to write the words "come together" on cups for drink orders. >> we just wanted to have a subtle message of coming together and everyone b

house, 3:00 this afternoon is the date for one final fiscal cliff showdown. just four days left to get this deal done or massive tax hikes and spending cuts will kick in. >>> the u.s. embassy clearing out of an african nation this morning. deteriorating security in the central african republic has forced the u.s. state department to temporarily suspend operations. there the u.s. ambassador, his diplomatic team and some private american citizens are out of the capital. the country's president has asked france and the united states for help to stop rebels that threaten rule. >>> it's not clear who will replace lisa jackson as the head of the environmental protection agency. jackson announced yesterday she's stepping down in january after the president's state of the union address. the epa created new standards for air pollution from coal power plants on her watch. >>> massachusetts congressman ed ma markey throwing his hat into the ring for kerry's senate seat. a special election would be held early this summer. markey a 66-year-old democrat is the first prominent candidate to declare for the race. >>> mo

cliff aside for one moment. you've done extensive research on recovery from recessions. where are we in the current recovery? what in your estimation does 2013 look like from an economic standpoint. >> fairly normal from world war ii financial crisis, housing recovers on cue five or six years later. the good news is that there's stable underlying growth. the bad news is you don't get the zoom you got out of it during the depression. >> we're in year five of a seven year process. >> more than seven years. >> last time you were here you said we were half way through regardless of who wins in 2012. the next four years would not look much better than the past four years. >> we're going to have, i don't know if not very much better than the past four but we're not going to have fantastic growth. unemployment will take many more years to feel normal, so we have many years left in the recovery but hopefully in two or three years we feel like we're moving there and not at the starting point. >> let's talk about the global picture here. you have slow growth in china, slow growth in india, slo

. lawmakers have just three days left to get a deal done in time to avoid the fiscal cliff. even if a deal is thrown together at the 11th hour, senate majority leader harry reid says what they come up with will be imperfect. and some people aren't going to like it. i spoke with independent new york stock exchange trader kenny polkari earlier and asked them how wall street is reacting to the looming fiscal cliff. >> we've come right to the 11th hour. the -- the fact that there's going to be a substantive deal that comes out of this in the 11th hour is probably nil to zero, right? essentially in my sense, it's easier to go over the cliff. then there's clarity, right? taxes will go up, spending will get cut. the market will know what is going to happen. it can only get better from there because then you'll get legislators that come to the table, that try to cut taxes and raise some spending, and they'll argue it from a positive point of view and stand up and say, rah-rah, look what we, did right? it won't get any worse if we go over the cliff. if there's a bandaid, it leaves complete c

two. it's not as dire as the whole fiscal cliff situation, but there are a lot of people upset at the game show "wheel of fortune." >> it has to do with a contestant who guessed the right word but lost because of the way she said the word because of her accent. here's abc's john muller. >> reporter: she was on a roll, cruising her way towards thousands on "wheel of fortune. >> n. >> three ns. >> reporter: renee can taste victory. she's got the winning answer. >> i would like to solve. seven swans a swimming. >> reporter: or so she thought. pronouncing swimming swimmin'. >> yeah. >> that's how i speak, you know, being from florida. i had asked for the g, so i knew it was there. >> reporter: judges said it was spoken in vernacular. the twitter lit up with outrage. "wheel of fortune" hates southerners. even the other contestant handed the win couldn't believe it. >> you ddo you know what happen? >> no. >> it cost me the show. >> reporter: while the judges may be grinches, they didn't feel our christmas spirit, even if she sings it seven swams a swimmin'. >> it's been such a whirl win

anything done. the most likely outcome seem to be we go over the fiscal cliff or there is a temporary stop-gap solution. absent that, we are heading over the cliff. >> you are going to have less money to spend in a very difficult economy with very little clarity on how the economy is going to pick up in the near future or even in the long run. we are entering into a very difficult era, unfortunately. >> we talk about the impact on the economy. it's because as your income goes up, your tax hike will get larger and larger and collectively, it's a lot of money out of the economy. you look at folks making more than $500,000 a year, their taxes would go up on average $120,000. that's money that won't be spent on consumer goods, won't be invested. it will simply go to the government and it may cause, may cause another recession. and to add to the uncertainty here, the complications, we also heard from treasury secretary tim geithner that the nation is going to hit the debt ceiling sooner than a lot of people anticipated. probably the next few days. he can go through accounting gimmicks to d

is hoping sadly, if we go over the fiscal cliff, he is reelected january 3rd and he will have a little more leverage to get a deal like that done. i think' grew with terry, democrats have to do more to restrain spending but particularly rein in entitlements. hopefully saner minds on both sides will prevail before january 1st. if not, right after january 1st. gregg: we shall see. >> going over the fiscal cliff has been president obama's mission from the very beginning. the fact that he -- >> i don't believe that for a second. i don't believe it for a second. gregg: you reilly think he wants to do this. >> absolutely. because you ownly gets his way, he only gets his way if he backs us all up against the wall and says you have no choice. it is my way or the highway. that has been his negotiating. >> very sad somebody would talk like that and thing like that. >> it is i agree. happy new year. >> happy new year. gregg: not really. patti ann: well, panic at a shopping mall. wait until you see what happens, a 33-ton tank suddenly bursts. what is sent into the mall. we'll tell you. gregg: a final farewell for the firefighters shot dead wh

. >>> president obama heading back to washington to tackle the fiscal cliff today. he will get to d.c. just as the house and senate expected to reconvene tomorrow. not much time left for a notoriously slow-moving washington to get something done. brianna keilar following the drama from honolulu, hawaii. she's there with the president. what is the latest. >> president obama is officially cutting short his christmas vacation and heading back from hawaii. tonight, hawaiian time, early in the morning on the east coast and returning to the d.c. area on thursday. as the senate is set to reconvene and all eyes really are looking there to see what senate majority leader harry reid can cobble together in order to get republican support to avoid the fiscal cliff. he'll also have to put together something that will get republican support in the house. this is a last-ditch effort and will be obviously very difficult if it succeeds at all. at this point, the white house still wants that threshold for income tax rates to be at 250,000. it's unclear, exactly what the senate proposal is going to look like. as we understand from sources, al inna, it could be a couple of days, even though this are reconvening tomorrow, it could be a couple of days befo

calling the dairy fiscal cliff, harris. harris: the problem for this no matter how much you make, it is not about taxes coming out of your paycheck are we all need food so it hits everybody. dominic, thank you. jon: the dangerous winter weather taking a toll on us air travel and not just in the skies or those crowded terminals. what happened after this packed jet liner skidded off the runway. >>> plus a high-tech suit bringing some real life miracles. the technology straight out of "iron man", that puts paralyzed people back on their feet. >> did you ever think you would be able to walk again? >> no. but in my mind i always told myself that i will. even with the doubts of the doctors sometimes. i still told myself that i will and my son kept reminding me. so i knew i would get back on my feet. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios what starts with adding a friend... ♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. the lexus december to remember sales even

deadline for the fiscal cliff is now just four days away. >> the president has not laid out a very specific plan to deal with this. candidly congress could have done the same, and i think the american people should be disgusted. >> the commander of operation desert storm died thursday from complications of pneumonia. calling general norman schwarzkopf a hero. >> the weather is footbally moving out, more winter weather is headed to the northeast. >> although it's not a major system it will probably cause travel problems tomorrow. >> there are only two days left before a potential strike and negotiations between the long shore men's union and shipping companies are at an impasse. >> this looks like the kind of story you would like to do maybe in 2013. >> is that a ring tone -- the most important thing, what is the ring tone. >> "dancing queen" is for most people and my wife's ring tone is "super trooper." >>> rebecca jarvis with jeff glor, charlie, gayle and norah are off. the fiscal cliff negotiations are down to the wire. this afternoon president obama meets with congressional leaders to try to come to terms on a compromise plan. major garrett is at t

fiscal cliff and i'll throw a second number, one week until the new congress begins, so they are hard up against some big deadlines. >> the market implication is important because markets have done very, very well this year, lisa, and there's some suggestion if congress doesn't get it together before the new year, markets may force them to do so. we'll be talking more about that later in the show. lisa, thanks so much. we'll check in with you later. >>> piling on the concerns, treasury secretary tim geithner has warned congress hat u.s. will reach its debt ceiling on monday. that is when the government reaches its legal borrowing limit. now, this could pose a bigger threat to the nation's credit rating than the fiscal cliff. treasury can keep the government operating for a few weeks using emergency measures, but congress needs to act on this too to avoid a full-blown debt crisis. alina cho. joins us with the ret of the top stories. >>> former president george h.w. bush remains in intensive care in a houston hospital with an elevated fever. he is on a liquid diet an his condition is listed as guarded. his spokesman quotes him as saying i'm determined not to be dprumpy with all of this

the fiscal cliff. 48% of those polled say a deal is not likely. that optimism is waning, though when the poll was done earlier this month, 59% said a deal was likely. >>> former braves great andruw jones is free on a $2,500 bond this morning after being arrested outside of atlanta. he was arrested on a battery charge. the gwinnett county detention center said there was a domestic dispute between he and his life. >>> the number of extremely obese preschoolers has dropped slightly over the last decade, according to the centerses for disease control and prevention. researchers called the decline modest but say it's encouraging. the cdc adds that part of the decrease could be attributed to awareness campaigns that encourage physical activity and healthy eating. >>> before heading back to d.c. to try to avoid heading off the fiscal cliff, president obama and the first lady kept up a christmas tradition. they visited marines at a base in hawaii thanking them for their service. mrs. obama and their daughters, by the way, won't cut short their vacation. they're staying in hawaii while dad flies home. >>> a trip to a

york state are not wondering anymore. >>> and six days and counting until we hit the fiscal cliff. the president is cutting short his hawaiian vacation to go back to work. we'll look at whether a deal is likely to get done. >>> and not what people in alabama wanted for christmas. tornadoes ripped through the south. >> i prayed to god as loud as i could and i was just praying for my safety. and i knew that -- i prayed that the church stayed put. rsal] ♪ everybody well don't you know it's me now? ♪ ♪ yeah who's it, who's it huh? ♪ ♪ willy's back with a brand new beat now, ♪ ♪ yeah doin' it doin' it up! ♪ heyyy yeah, tryin' to bite my style! ♪ ♪ heyyy yeah, how you like me now? ♪ ♪ na na na na na na na na ♪ and everybody go uh! >>> we told you last hour president obama is spending his last few hours in hawaii before returng early to washington. he's expected to arrive tomorrow, just five days ahead of the fiscal cliff, which includes an across the board tax hike that congress has tried but failed to undo. cnn's dana bash is with us from washington, our senior congressional correspondent. we spoke last hour. you told us that hour speaker john boehner was to convene this conference call to d

can't get this done if they reach a deal 15 minutes before the deadline clears. are we already past the point of no return? >> we are already virtually certain that we're going to go over this fiscal cliff. these guys suddenly came to an agreement over the next few days, they could pass it at the beginning of january. and we could not see many of the impacts. but i wouldn't be optimistic about that. >> jonathan karl, i have a feeling i'll see you here around 7:07 tomorrow morning. thank you, jon. >> amy? >>> let's go to paula faris with the other top stories develop right now. paula? >> we have an update on 41. we begin with growing concern about the health of former president george h.w. bush. he has suffered a setback. mr. bush is in intensive care after doctors were unable to lower his fever. and they still don't know what's causing it. they've now placed him on a liquids-only diet. they are not explaining why. mr. bush was admitted to the hospital november 23rd for bronchitis. doctors say they remain cautiously optimistic about his recovery. >>> and toyota has agreed to pay more

together and get this fiscal cliff thing done. no word yet on when people get extra lattes, if there is's enough space to write "get your lazy ass off vacation and get this done." [ laughter ] >> willis likes that a lot more. i can hear it in the background. >> i wonder if there's enough room. >> no, i don't know about that. >>> okay, ladies and gents, if you're looking for love, oh, boy, you better have a good credit score. take a look at this. ♪ so hot right now that our designer sun glasses be fogging ♪ >> okay, yeah. we're not going to say we're going after those guys, but it's the credit score guys. "the new york times" is reporting that credit scores are huge and that could be at the top of the list. maybe after looks and personality is credit scores. they interviewed people across the u.s., all under the age of 40, and the newspaper discovered that a low credit score is a deal-breaker when in search of love right now in the economy. so if you don't have your act together, take care of that and maybe you'll find love. >> can you imagine, hi, how are you? where are you

a deal done on the fiscal cliff before the end of the year. and i wasn't very surprised because howard schultz has been very outspoken. we sat down earlier this month to talk about the fiscal cliff and the risks to u.s. businesses, to the world economy and to the average u.s. citizen if we don't have a deal, if we don't get it done. i want you to take a listen to what he fold me. >> the real difference today versus perhaps any other time in history is that this single issue has a seismic effect on the rest of the world, that we have never been as connected and the domino effect of a bad outcome here will have significant negative consequences domestically and around the world. not the least of which will be the level -- fracturing of confidence in the united states of america. >> seismic and significant. very powerful words. how could this play out for americans if we don't have a deal? what will that feel like to them, howard? >> i think there will be tremendous personal pressure on people who are going to see their daily lives affected in ways that are hard to fathom, hard to

truck like a toy. >>> and just five days until the fiscal cliff. president obama catching a flight back to washington where there's doubt that a deal can get done in time. good morning, everybody, for a thursday morning. very early, 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. welcome to "early start." i'm alina cho. >> i'm drew griffin. john and zoraida are off today. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. a deadly winter storm system slamming the northeast after hammering the nation's heartland. look at this radar, system serious snowmaker. it's packing destructive winds, six states under winter storm warnings right now. pennsylvania, new york, massachusetts, new hampshire, vermont and maine. all could see a foot of snow or more. more than 200,000 customers spanning several states already without power. 1,700 plus flights canceled yesterday. imagine that. hundreds more already taken off the board this morning. there are six deaths being blamed on the weather since tuesday and the threat hasn't passed yesterday. bonnie schneider, meteorologist checking the system from the cnn center in atlanta. first, we go to ennis standing by in miserable, snowy new york. it's a pretty p

politics and the atmospherics, they're getting a pay raise before they fix the fiscal cliff? who gets a pay raise before they get the job done? it's a ridiculous notion and shows me how out of touch washington d.c. is with the rest of the country. >> dave: it's certainly not about merit. according to one report, this is the least productive congress since the 1940's in terms of the amount of bills they've passed that have gone into law. let's talk about some, joe biden, for example, gets a raise 225 to now $231,000. we move on to a couple of others, if we can spin through to give you an example. john boehner increase of $1,000, so they're not enormous raises, they are fairly mottdest, right, peter? >> they are fairly modest, it affects not only congress, but the supreme court justices and also includes senior executives in the executive branch. the cost of this, according to the congressional budget office, is going to be about 1 billion dollars a year with this increase for senior executives in government. so, literally, think about this. they're talking about the fiscal cliff, they're talking about raising taxes and cutting spen

president said he is modestly optimistic about a fiscal cliff deal getting done before new year's eve. >> clayton: they all said the same thing. presidential meeting with the leaders yesterday. harry reid. >> juliet: vice president showed up. >> clayton: they must have been all on the same table hey whether we lee this table we will say modestly optimistic. listen to senator mitch mcconnell who may be the linchpin of this whole thing. he said i will take the ball and run with it in the senate. get a deal done. listen to the senator. >> we had a good meeting at the white house. we are engaged in discussions the majority leader and myself and the white house in the hopes that we can come forward sunday and have a recommendation that i can make to my conference and the majority leader can make to his conference. we will be working hard to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours. so i'm hopeful and optimistic. >> charles krauthammer calling him a master negotiator. saying if it were left up to him he could solve the syrian civil war in a weekend. >> dave: he can get it done but there

basketball but what's the spin on the fiscal cliff hanger? can congress get a deal done before the deadline? >> this is a wbal-tv 11 editorial with dan joerres. >> as we come to the close of another year, we think of our loved ones who are sacrificing their lives for our liberty and pursuit of happiness. we take our regularly scheduled editorial time to share greetings from those in the military to families in maryland. they will also be available on wbaltv.com, click on editorials. from the wbal-tv 11 family to yours, happy holidays. >> i'm dale inman from edgewater, maryland, and i wish a happy holidays to rich, grace, win, pearson. >> i'm mark schaffer from annapolis, maryland. i send my hov to jennifer, kai, dana and mom and dad. >> michelle carter, a shout out from kabul, eaven. afghanistan. i would also like to shout out to my number one team, the baltimore ravens. >> you're watching wbal-tv 11, live, local, late breaking. this is 11 news sunday morning. >> good morning, welcome to 11 news sunday morning. i'm jennifer franciotti. lisa has the day off. we'll get to our top sto

here think that if anything is going to get done before the fiscal cliff deadline, that it won't happen until the pressure is on, on or around december 31st. that's practically and probably why what we saw today was suspended animation. this is one place in washington free of gridlock.baristas are writing the words, "come together" on customers' coffee. >> people are tired that congress can't come to a compromise or agree on anything. >> reporter: but even that doesn't seem to be moving lawmakers. >> taxes are approaching the wrong direction. come the first of this year, americans will have less income than they have today. >> reporter: senate democratic leader harry reid, back from christmas break, was highly pessimistic about passing anything to avert the fiscal cliff and keeping all americans' taxes from going up january 1st. >> i have to be very honest, mr. president. i don't know, time wise, how it can happen now. >> five days until the fiscal cliff, and both sides are engaged in legislative and political chicken. the president called each of the four congressional leaders b

. they join us to shed light on this. what are we going to do about the fiscal cliff when it is looming so -- if they do something about it and get back to congress this week as they're supposed to do. do they have enough time to get it done? >> i don't know if they have enough time to get it done, if republicans in the house are not willing to make any substantive concessions. and that means that they need to listen to what american voters said in november and raise the tax rates on the top 2%. that is what everybody voted for and that's what we want. and so i think that republicans really are in a tough spot. speaker john boehner's plan, boguses a i like to call it, blew up in their faces. now they really are at a loss and we only have seven days and in order to avoid going off the cliff, they need to make substantive concessions. kelly: brad, my understanding is that the senate is going to be trying to do something now to actually get this job done. it will be a pared down or scaled down version what they really want but can they do it? will the house even agree to it? >> well, kelly in washington now it takes three to tango. it takes the white house. it takes the senate and the house. one body in and of itself can not force

. they realize that if there is no deal that gets done, we go over the fiscal cliff or the obama cliff and everything that gets kicked into gear, higher tax rates, some of the spending cuts, sequestration, probably good for the economy, which i believe is, but also he can come back in after the first of the year, sometime in january or february and say, let's pass some tax cuts for people making under $250,000 a year, like i've wanted to do all along and he gets to own tax cuts. it's very, very politically senator to do this on his part. on right, they really, really needed to be one voice and they just couldn't get to that. >> kelly: he divided the republicans as charles krauthammer alluded to, saying that's what the president wanted to do, to divide the republicans. senator john barrasso has something to say about the president, saying he may have wanted to do this all along, go off the fiscal cliff. >> i think that he sees a lot of cuts to the military, which the democrats have been after for a long time. and then he gets to do what he loves to do, which is blame republicans. my con

the nation watches to see what happens with the fiscal cliff, there's another important piece of legislation that needs attention. if nothing is done about it, the cost of milk could go sky high. here's nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: the dairy industry is calling it the milk cliff. just like tax rates, if congress doesn't approve a farm bill by january 1st, the price of milk could go up. way up. right now an average gallon costs $3.65. it could soar to between $6 and $8. mara has three little kids. that means a lot of milk. >> you have to have it for young kids. it helps them grow. so it's hard when it gets that expensive. >> reporter: for many families, milk is a staple they can't cut back on. >> a lot of families that are tight, incomewise, they don't want to buy milk at $7, $8. >> reporter: it's not just milk prices. all dairy products would be affected. imagine if wisconsin cheddar cost more than imported french brie. what would that mean for the average grilled cheese? one part of the complicated farm bill controls the dairy market. without it, pricing would go back to an outdated law put in place during the truman era. the gove

the fiscal cliff from happening. but with just four days left until everybody's taxes go up, there's not a lot of optimism that it can be done in time. jonathan karl, abc news, new york. >>> tributes are pouring in for retired general norman schwarzkopf. the general, nicknamed stormin' norman, died yesterday in tampa from pneumonia. schwarzkopf commanded operation desert storm, the coalition of some 30 countries that drove iraqi forces from kuwait back in 1991. in retirement, he supported charitable causes and resisting calls to run for public office. norman schwarzkopf was 78. >>> for the second time this month, a man has been pushed to his death in the path of a new york subway train. last night, eyewitnesss say a mumbling woman shoved a man onto the tracks just as the train was pulling into an elevated station in queens. surveillance video captured her running away. it's not clear if she knew the victim. new york police are reviewing surveillance video recorded on the platform to try to identify the victim and the suspect. >> this is the second time this happened this month. the first one happened in times square. this one h